January 7, 2010

Geox: a Triple Play

Personal story…

My wife and I were in Paris this year and we decided to buy Geox shoes for each of our five grandchildren. Were were captivated by the style of the kids shoes and the price point was right so we made the purchase.

We hit 3-for-4. They hit the mark with everyone but our youngest granddaughter. Unfortunately we brough home 2 left foot shoes! Dumb thing to do, but we missed it.

I sent an e-mail to the store in Paris but got no response. I admit that I was thinking that we would get no resolution of our problem.

Then I e-mailed the Geox main HQ in Canada. In one day I received an apology back and a question as to which store in the Vancouver area would be convenient for me to go in to and exchange the 2 left-footers for the real thing. I responded and within a few days I had a replacement pair of shoes (even a more fasionable syle that the original ones we picked out). Done. No pain.

Conclusion: it is so nice to run into an organization that provides the appropriate balance of:
- a fashionable product line
- competitive prices that reflect the VALUE of what you are getting
- dazzling customer service particulary when there has been a blunder.

Nicely done Dick Debbie and Geox Canada

Cheers,
Roy Osing
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Posted 1.7.10 at 03:46 pm by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 4, 2010

Serving Customers Dumb Rule in Retail

There are still retailers out there that refuse to offer a refund when you return an article to them; rather they insist you get an in-store credit that can be used at a future date.

Why do retailers do it?
- To deter people from returning product. Which actually translates into ‘We really don’t care whether the garment meets your needs. You bought it. You keep it.’
- To prevent a short term cash flow problem. They don’t give the customer their money back. They take on a future liability when (and if) an article is eventually purchased.

This is a classic Dumb Rule as its impact on the business actually destroys customer value in the long run:
- The customer is annoyed because they have the hassle of returning the product.
- They are further annoyed because they can’t get a refund.
- They are further annoyed because in all probability they are unable to find a suitable replacement for their original purchase in the store at the same time the return is made.
- They reluctantly take the in-store credit and promptly tell others how upset they are and how rotten the service is at this retail outlet.
- They are really upset over the fact they have to go elsewhere and purchase another product.
- They will have to essentially pay twice for what they want at least until they use the credit at some time in the future.
- They leave; come back to use the credit and never return.

The retailer removes any possibility of repeat business and with it the longer term revenue annuity stream.

As well their serving customers reputation goes in the tank.

How can this be good for them? It can’t.

Fortunately this type of Rule is used less and less as businesses wake up to the fact that the customer drives the business and if they don’t treat people they way they want to be treated the organization will pay the ultimate price.

Cheers,
Roy Osing

Remember to follow me on Twitter

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Posted 1.4.10 at 07:57 am by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 1, 2010

An Educator Passes Judgement on BE DiFFERENT

“Distinguishing your company in a saturated marketplace is a persisting test that many business leaders never past. In order to survive unruly external conditions, organizations need to adopt internal practices that allow them to be seen as unique by their customers. Osing refers to these practices as his BE DiFFERENT strategies.

It is important to recognize that creating a formula for being different is difficult and sounds almost counter-intuitive. Osing, however, cuts through the inspirational jargon with which many business texts distract their readers and provides a practical and concrete framework that can be customized to suit both large and small enterprises. His recommendations to improve your strategic planning, marketing,sales and customer service approaches also compel you to rethink your staff structure and your investment in information technology.

BE DiFFERENT does exactly what it recommends its readers to do: cuts the crap and focuses on execution.

Osing is the current president and CEO of Brilliance for Business. More information about this book and the seminars Osing offers can be found at www.bedifferentorbedead.com”

Thanks for that Trek magazine and UBC. It is particularly gratifying to get an ‘A’ from the academic community.

Cheers
Roy

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Posted 1.1.10 at 03:33 pm by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 1, 2010

BE DiFFERENT Marketing - Think Value Additive

Developing and marketing PRODUCTS is the way most companies compete today. Nothing wrong with that. But it’s not DiFFERENT. And it’s hard to find a unique niche where your competitors won’t find you. Product competition is always challenged with how to provide features others don’t. It’s a tough road, as the RIM Blackberry smartphone is discovering. Numerous competitors are now offering their own version of the smartphone with features they hope will gain them market share.

In my book, I advocate a Customerize Marketing discipline, rather than the traditional product-centric approach where the focus is on creating value-based holistic Offers that reflect a broad view of the target customer in terms of needs, wants and desires.

The key question is, of course, how do you move to the Offer creation mode when you have been stuck in the product-only gear for so long?

Here is the Value Additive Process.

First, start with your core product. It will be the anchor for your Offer.

Second, identify additional VALUE components that can be ‘wrapped around’ your core product. The choice of what value to add is based on what you know about your target customers. This is where Customer Learning pays off. If you have institutionalized the process of continuous customer learning, you will find the choice of what value to add relatively easy. Added value MUST reflect a relevant and compelling customer need or desire otherwise the Offer will not resonate with the customer at all .

Resist the temptation to add too many value components. Don’t complicate the Offer. Choose three additional value layers (Roy’s Rule of 3 remember?) that present a consistent and seamless value proposition to the customer and a ‘natural’ add-on to your core product. If the value components are not synergistc and don’t ‘work well’ together, your target customer group won’t understand and ‘get’ the overall benefits your Offer provides. Not a good place to be.

Choosing synergistic value components is critical in Offer creation in order to present a cohesive theme to the customer. If you are in the financial business, for example, with an anchor product of ‘financial advice’, you might consider value additive components such as on-line self management investment tracking tools and quarterly financial management seminars which all play well together rather than choosing components that have no direct relationship with one another and with the anchor product (wrapping a ski weekend in Whistler, for example around financial advice may not work so well).

Third, define the value proposition, or statement of benefit for your Offer. I am not talking about a statement that simply adds together the benefits of each Offer component. You need to describe the benefit impact of all components working together. In my example above, how might you define the collective benefits of financial advice, on-line tracking tools and regular seminars? You need to express the theme they collectively express. How about something like ‘investment self-management’? Not perfect but you get the idea.

Fourth, you need to brand your Offer reflecting the value proposition. There is no sense creating something new and not taking credit for your innovation. Too many organizations are into the bundling mentality where a la carte component packaging with discount pricing is used. That’s NOT what I advocate. Your new brand should reflect the collection of benefits provided. In the example that we have been using how about branding the Offer ‘The self-management Investment Plan’? Not bad.

Fifth, price your Offer in terms of the market value provided.Think Premium pricing. Avoid the bundling mentality of discounting the package based on the number of components in it. If you have hit the mark with relevant, compelling VALUE you should be able to command a premium price and realize healthy margins. If you can’t price your Offer at a high level I would suggest you have not defined the Offer well enough. Go back to the drawing board. Start over.

Cheers,
Roy Osing
Remember to follow me on Twitter
Take the BE DiFFERENT Quiz

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Posted 1.1.10 at 09:18 am by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (1)